Way of the Wolf
by Wyndbain
Summary: What occurs when the moon comes out and wolves become like shinobi in the forests? What happens when Sakura joins these nightly predators? Moonlight romance and missions for territory perhaps…


**Way of the Wolf**

**By Wyndbain**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, got it?

**A/N:** I'd like to thank my office assistant for helping me write this fanfiction. I'd also like to state that Clippit is a stupid name for a virtual paper clip too(Note to Microsoft!). Tim sounds better. Thank you Tim for forever tapping on my screen, asking me obvious questions and looking just as bored as myself when I stopped typing to reflect on the story.

Note: More talking occurs after the first chapter.

**Chapter 1**

**Beneath the Moon**

The night was beautiful. It was simply that. Nothing could begin to describe the way the moon washed everything in a pale blue light as it filtered through the leaves and branches, making plants and trees, bugs and rodents, all the nightly things glow as they went about their usual business. They were silent of course, as creatures of the night aught to be.

For one occupant of the forest, however, the night was not silent. It was actually fairly loud, with the head piece stuck in her ear and crackling with static, while far off voices gave in their reports as though they were right next to her. Kakashi was still unable to locate any sign of their quarry, while Naruto had spotted something and was already on it's tail-no, wait, it was just a stupid rabbit. Why the hell did the forest have to have so many rabbits!?

Sakura had planted herself high into the treetops, holding onto the rough bark of a pine with her feet carefully placed on a sturdy branch. She had chosen a spot laden with shadows, away from the pallid glow of the moon. The only observation of this beautiful night that she had taken account of was where the best spots to completely erase her presence were.

The head set crackled to life once again, Kakashi's voice announcing that the enemy had hidden and that they should regroup soon. The enemy were not ninja but they were at least skilled enough at hiding themselves. Naruto wondered aloud if he should probably check out those rabbits again.

"Naruto, they do not use jutsu, hence they cannot transform. Sakura, are you close to the rendezvous point?" Both Naruto and Kakashi heard nothing but simple static while Sakura was hesitant to give an answer. They both became concerned and wondered about going after their team mate before hearing a short, soft, "I see something."

They couldn't see each other due to the distance between them, but Kakashi nodded his head.

"Keep searching Naruto. Once you've confirmed that it's our target Sakura, try to keep them from running."

Sakura placed one hand over the other as it curled into a fist, the soft popping of her knuckles heard even by the two shinobi on the other ends of her head phones. She could handle that.

The shadow that had passed beneath her tree was swift, enough so that it had startled her with its speed. The enemy they sought was fast and still they did not know the limits of these fiends. One thing was for certain, these were not ordinary bandits. Tsunade had been right in sending Konoha's best to try and tackle the situation. The mission had sounded simple, one that Naruto had complained about the moment Tsunade had assigned him, Sakura, Kakashi and Sai. Sakura, Sai and Kakashi had ambushed four of the bandits while the unsuspecting men themselves had been waiting to ambush what they thought was a rich traveler on his way home from a night of successful gambling. A man that rumor had told had hit it rich recently with increased luck. The very lucky man however, had simply been an ecstatic Naruto, happy to drunkenly wave around his fat purse of 'winnings' for all to see.

Three of the men had high-tailed it into the nearest wood, while the fourth had split from the group and made as fast as he could back to what they all suspected was the main hideout for this group of ruffians. So they had decided to split too, giving each shinobi a target. Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi had run after the three in the woods while Sai chased after the one who appeared to be headed home.

A sudden wind sprang up and filled the trees with life as they shook and swayed in the nighttime, leaves brushing together to sound like rain as it hit a hard surface. This could play to her advantage, if her target was any good at finding her presence, it would be difficult to do with everything in the woods making a racket like that.

She followed along the treetops, using her chakra to land quietly on each branch, but swiftly for her target was moving quite fast along the forest grounds. It soon occurred to her that, though she could not see clearly the man that she was following, she could hear him loud and clear above the nightly noises as he stepped upon leaf after dry leaf. She stopped and made herself disappear. The man had stopped as well. So it had been a trap then.

Quietly Sakura pulled a kunai from her leg pouch, peering through the darkness to try and identify some sort of target. The forest was dead silent, as though everything were holding its breath for the moment when one of the two would make a move, one to trigger the other into a fight of shinobi against bandit.

Sakura was the more fortunate, for after what had seemed like a century of waiting there was a shuffling of footsteps that quieted suddenly as though he had just realized his mistake. Her kunai shot out of the foliage and dropped to the ground, sticking up out of the soil like a small black banner of triumph at the same moment Sakura changed her position as not to be discovered by having thrown her weapon. She settled quickly and waited…waited for…what, she didn't really know. Seconds passed on into minutes and nothing had happened. She had thrown her kunai accurately right? The man had obviously wanted her to follow, follow right into his trap where she could easily be defeated by the element of surprise. But he had been careless, too obvious and eager to get her to follow and she had noticed. Yet…the kunai was still sticking out of the ground, certainly in the same spot she had detected her target.

And then…she had another feeling…one of sickly dread that twisted in her gut. It was behind her…a sense of raw power ready to strike with unyielding mercy. She hadn't felt such a power since she had stood in Orochimaru's very presence. No, it was no where near the feeling she had now. Orochimaru had been tainted with a cruel and devious force. This sensation was simply raw…pure strength.

He hadn't made a move yet, because she knew, that he knew, she was caught. The moth, drawn in by the moonlight, had become entangled in his web. This knowledge caused a tingling chill in her spine.

She dared to turn, to at least face the enemy that lie in waiting. Possibly waiting simply for the moment she would turn and look upon his face. Cruel people were like that sometimes, they liked the look on a person's face when they knew they had been defeated.

The sight that came into view when she had fully turned was enough to shock her, paralyze her so that she caught her breath and couldn't speak, couldn't utter any word of astonishment to describe that moment in time.

Nothing.

The tree tops were bluish green, surrounded by a pale glow as they reached up into a blanket of darkness that was the sky. Leaves drifted and fell every now and then as a soft breeze freed them from the trees they had been born upon. The moon itself was merrily glowing, forever determined to keep everything covered in a thin layer of blue light for as long as the night would last.

Sakura's heart pounded with shock, fear and…relieved surprise. She could have sworn she had felt another's presence, right behind her and slightly…above. Where her eyes drifted now, she felt the same impact as before. It was a tremendous power that she could feel right down in her bones.

The moon…she hadn't noticed it before, occupied as she had been with tracking down a rogue bandit…was aglow with power and the same feeling of force she had felt when her back was turned. It was so mysterious as to why it was emitting such a power and why she had not noticed it before…before…she had been after her target!

She spun around quickly, scanning the forest floor below. Since the bandit had not been the source of that tremendous feeling, then perhaps he was still down in the bushes, simply hiding. She could wonder about the moon at a later date, for at the moment, she had a mission to complete.

She pulled out another kunai and began to plan out her next move when suddenly, something sharp touched her in the back, followed by a soft substance and a forceful push. Sakura tried to grab hold of other branches to stop her fall, but the branches had been too weak and her descent too fast. A dull pain shot through her back as she hit the ground, followed by a blinding light as her head connected with the hard ground. She bounced once and lay still, keeping her wits about her and carefully easing chakra into her hands to mend what ever injury had been caused by her fall. It took a moment, but she tested her body, moving first her arms, legs, neck…her entire body was sore, her head was pounding and she may have messed her shoulder when she landed. She would survive.

There was still the issue of her opponent unfortunately. While placing a softly glowing hand on her shoulder, she turned her gaze up into the tree that she had been pushed from. Sakura had only managed to catch a glimpse of the shadowy form, outlined in a blue light from the moon, as he stood atop the branch she had been previously perched on before the figure was suddenly right in her face for a very detailed view.

A paw…yes, a paw, was pushed against her neck to keep her from getting up any further. The claw tips prickled the tender skin of her neck as the creature gave a deep, threatening growl. She took note of the size of the paw, as it seemed to cover her entire neck, while the rest of the beast fit right into the size of that paw. Its nose, twitched as her scent was noted, hot breath misting the air and warming her face as it was hovering that close.

Maybe that was why the moon had given off such a powerful aura this night, for at the angle she was laying, this wolf was shaded in the light of the moon while it's full surface acted as a frame around its large, furry shape. Wolves usually went hand in hand with full moons.

Sakura didn't move, since the wolf had her well pinned down anyway, and obviously wasn't looking to harm her. What was this, a wild animal, doing something so calmly as to just stare at her while the minutes flew by? Or was it a ninja animal? She didn't recall hearing anything of the sort in their mission briefing. These were bandits, not shinobi. She had to get back to her mission soon…she had to report to the others that she had lost the target.

She slowly, very carefully, moved her free arm and closed the hand into a fist, gathering up more chakra as she prepared to give the creature one swift, non-lethal blow. It would be enough though, to set her free from this great brute.

As silent and calm as the wolf had been in the past few minutes, it suddenly reacted when she moved her hand. Its jaws had very painfully snapped around her wrist. The moment Sakura cried out in pain, the creature was suddenly gone. It's existence and presence had been erased just as stealthily as any good shinobi. Sakura was certainly confused, startled, by the whole mess. She was pulled out of her confusion by a soft noise in her ear, one that was Naruto announcing that he had just flushed out the three bandits they had been after.

She waved away her current bewilderment and began moving towards Naruto's position. She still had a mission to complete. This mystery could be understood at a later date.


End file.
